2012 John Laffin Memorial Lecture

FFFAIF members and guests, along with members of the public, are invited to the annual John Laffin Memorial Lecture to be held on Sunday 24th June at the Bathurst RSL Club. Charlotte Descamps, from Belgium, will give an indepth presentation on

Life on the Battlefields – 94 years later

Born in Poperinge, Belgium in 1958, Charlotte Descamps has lived her entire life (to date) on the battlefields of the Ypres Salient. In 1998, Charlotte started the Varlet Farm Bed & Breakfast operation specialising in hosting guests with an interest in the Great War. Varlet Farm B&B has been listed by tripadvisor.com as one of the Top 10 B&B and Inns in Europe in 2011.
She became a qualified battlefield guide in 2004 and is a founding member of the Passchendaele Society 1917, a charity organisingcommemoration events in the Ypres Salient. This society was a driving force behind the events commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele. Charlotte’s role also included carrying out research for the Passchendaele Memorial Museum 1917 at the British National Archives in Kew.
Charlotte has also:
*guided battlefield tours for the NZ embassy on Anzac Day from 2004 till 2009
*lectured to groups visiting Varlet Farm from all over the world including students, army cadets, army officers, bomb disposal squads and amateur and professional historians
*established contact between the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 and the 48th Highlander Regimental Museum in Toronto
*represented the community of Zonnebeke at the inauguration of a new WWI memorial in Essex on November 4th, 2011.

In March 2011, Charlotte began her international speaking career at the annual seminar of the Western Front Association — Pacific Coast Branch in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Between March and December 2012, she will speak in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

If you have always dreamt of visiting the hallowed ground in the footsteps of the Diggers of the Great War, we can get you there! There are still places available on the2012 FFFAIF Commemorative Tour. Book now and join the unforgettable experience. Contactsecretary@fffaif.org.autoday for further details.

The ceremony will take place in the presence of their Patron, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret’d) Governor of NSW, together with Mrs Hurley and the Occasional Address will be given by the State Governor’s immediate predecessor, The Honourable Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO. FFFAIF is invited to lay a floral tribute. RSVP 17 April.

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The Families and Friends of the First AIF supports DNA testing on the remains of Australian and British soldiers found on the battlefields of the Great War and efforts to identify as many of the fallen as is possible.